Particularize Of Books After Many a Summer Dies the Swan
| Title | : | After Many a Summer Dies the Swan |
| Author | : | Aldous Huxley |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 368 pages |
| Published | : | January 1st 1993 by Ivan R. Dee Publisher (first published 1939) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Classics. Philosophy. Literature. Novels |
Aldous Huxley
Paperback | Pages: 368 pages Rating: 3.75 | 2423 Users | 187 Reviews
Commentary Concering Books After Many a Summer Dies the Swan
A Hollywood millionaire with a terror of death, whose personal physician happens to be working on a theory of longevity-these are the elements of Aldous Huxley's caustic and entertaining satire on man's desire to live indefinitely. With his customary wit and intellectual sophistication, Huxley pursues his characters in their quest for the eternal, finishing on a note of horror. "This is Mr. Huxley's Hollywood novel, and you might expect it to be fantastic, extravagant, crazy and preposterous. It is all that, and heaven and hell too....It is the kind of novel that he is particularly the master of, where the most extraordinary and fortuitous events are followed by contemplative little essays on the meaning of life....The story is outrageously good."--New York Times. "A highly sensational plot that will keep astonishing you to practically the final sentence."--The New Yorker. "Mr. Huxley's elegant mockery, his cruel aptness of phrase, the revelations and the ingenious surprises he springs on the reader are those of a master craftsman; Mr. Huxley is at the top of his form." --London Times Literary Supplement.Be Specific About Books As After Many a Summer Dies the Swan
| Original Title: | After Many a Summer |
| ISBN: | 1566630185 (ISBN13: 9781566630184) |
| Edition Language: | English URL http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/After_Many_a_Summer_Dies_the_Swan |
| Characters: | Jo Stoyte |
| Literary Awards: | James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction (1939) |
Rating Of Books After Many a Summer Dies the Swan
Ratings: 3.75 From 2423 Users | 187 ReviewsJudge Of Books After Many a Summer Dies the Swan
It was alright. the plot had great potential. and had nice build up, but Huxley diverted into some deeply philosophical mumbo-jumbo about 1/3rd of the way in and continued almost until the end. What could have been an exciting read goes wanting for plot treatment and a proper climax. potentially a great work of speculative fiction made mediocre by too much philosophizing. It would have been better of Huxley had designed the story itself to convey some of the ideas that he propounds (by means ofThis is an interesting book that seems to serve as a vehicle for Huxley's own views on the human condition. One of the main characters is a prodigiously wealthy businessman who nonetheless lacks any taste or culture. To compensate, he surrounds himself with people who will provide an air of sophistication. Much of the book consists of these people having conversations with each other, sometimes of the form of "simple question that is obviously a prompt for something larger" followed by a
I've noticed through the few reviews that I have scanned, and in the comments made by friends who have read this less-known Huxley novel, that it is widely considered to be a lesser work, a novel too bombastic to maintain proper momentum and sustain the reader's attention. To be candid, my roommate told me it took him nine months of toilet-reading to get through it, and he spent the two weeks that I was reading it (actually only a week when you factor in the days and days I spent out of town and
Written when Huxley left England and settled in Southern California, After A Many a Summer satirizes Los Angeles culture (money-driven excess, gimcrack reproductions of classical European art and architecture, only bigger) in a way that is quite like Evelyn Waugh's The Loved One (which actually came out 8 years later).There are a number of stereotypes (grossly exploitative capitalist, his crassly shallow younger show-girl mistress, a gee-whiz young man of science) and a pair of Englishmen, one
Having read no Huxley other than "Brave New World", I took this one up solely on the assumption that Isherwood had included it in his "Single Man" for some good reason. And, of course, he did: themes of mortality and meaning are central here, too."After Many a Summer" is a mix of equal parts philosophical musing and straightforward comic novel. The latter -- the main thrust of the storyline, even specific settings, as well as Huxley's style here -- reminded me of nothing so much as Waugh's "The
This book is a somewhat odd mash-up of satire and philosophical lecture. On the one hand, we have an uber rich old man, Jo Stoyte, who lives in a castle in the San Fernando Valley. He owns a bank, a cemetery, an oil company his home is reminiscent of Hearst Castle, filled with every modern convenience and stuffed with art from around the world bought with no plan or passion. His very young live in girlfriend is called The Baby. He also has a live in physician, Obispo, who has no redeeming
The first pair of chapters give a great description of Los Angeles; the quirkiness and the contrasts, giant billboards, architecture, landscape, the transients and the well-to-do, all an insight into what makes LA, LA, and perhaps could only be written by someone such as Huxley coming from a different country getting a fresh view to this new American city in the 1930s. As always, Huxley is heavy on the philosophies and satire as he mocks the continual California search for youth with science
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